John didn't move to lean forward; he simply watched Rolf, his eyebrows rising a fraction of an inch, the only sign of of shared confidence he gave. He laughed a little, not particularly warm, and dropped his eyes to the table. "It does depend very much upon the man at the top. Yes." But the only good answer he knew to that (perfectly legitimate) criticism was that every man who'd been raised to Minister had been too weak, and that ... was not an argument that seemed like it would meet with much sympathy. It was also rather too close to home to be discussing with a man who was only supposed to be sharing his common areas. "You may well have the right of it over there," he said, cutting off the discussion with a determined stonewall of courtesy. The slightly fixed quality of his smile was the only indication that he wasn't entirely sincere.